Wild Rose Farm Pasture Salad!

Wild Rose Farm Ram Lamb Grazing

This is what we're grazing right now ... it's a pasture mix called "Drought Buster".  It was seeded on the hillside above the Loafing Shed after it was built in 2012.  The thought here in choosing a pasture mix was that the hillside would tend to be a drier spot because the rainfall would run downhill.  It's still spotty in some places, but doing quite well overall.

Red Clover, Ladino Clover, & Forage Chicory

Looks yummy, doesn't it?  It's interesting watching the grazing patterns of the animals.  The donkey tends to munch on the seed heads right now.  The llama also goes for the seed heads or sometimes nibbles at the extremely short weeds or annual grasses in the "traffic" areas.  The ewes munch it all, many times favoring the big leaves along weed stems or munching off the still tender stems of the chicory that is starting to bolt to seed.  The chicory can be reduced to a white smudge where they graze it completely down, but it has a taproot & will come back if not continually grazed.  The lambs?  That's another story - they are still learning what they like to eat & watching/following along with the ewe !  :)

Ram Lamb Circling Around - I Just Don't Know What To Eat First!

Upright Leaves of Forage Chicory, Alfalfa, Clovers - Yummy!

Once they finish grazing an area, we come behind and brush hog it down to knock off the grass seed heads & the weeds.  That promotes an even return of nice leafy growth for the next grazing rotation later in the summer.